The village of Guadalest in the Spanish province of Alicante has only about two hundred inhabitants. However, it is home to eight exciting museums. So if you are wondering about children's entertainment in the Costa Blanca, take a guided tour of the Guadalest museums.
One place in the village where kids will find a lot to see is the Museo Microgigante. The name sounds absurd, but once you get inside, it all makes sense. The large sculptures are at your fingertips, and on closer inspection, they showcase the miniature pieces. Getting a list of the exhibits is an excellent idea to ensure you don't miss out on the little works of art.
The museum's collection includes 33 miniatures created by the artist Manuel Ussá. In his works, the artist has not only shown fantastic craftsmanship but has also tried to portray the life of a little man. In one of the compositions, a man and a ladybird meet on a poppy seed. Another shows a fairy trying on wings made of tiny fragments of the wings of a real butterfly. In a third, a rider saddles not a horse but a wasp.
Other objects in the Microgiant Museum in Guadalest are similar to those usually displayed in such museums. There is a copy of an El Greco painting on a grain of rice, a bullfighting arena in the eye of a needle, a bible on a section of human hair, St Basil's Cathedral in a tiny seashell, and even an entire mountain village built on a two-centimetre vertebra.
Many exhibits can only be seen through a magnifying glass or microscope. Sometimes the background for a microscopic sculpture is another small object. One miniature, for example, is placed on the tip of a rhinoceros beetle's horn — making the beetle appear enormous. Next door is the Microminiature Museum, where you can see equally impressive things. We also recommend a visit with children to the Antonio Marco Dollhouse Museum in Guadalest.
